Hopper car construction



July 14, 1931.

W. J. HOSCEIT HOPPER CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet. 1

July 14, 1931. w. J. HoscElT 1,813,928

HOPPER CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2,' 1930 4fsneets-snet. 2

July 14, 1931. w. J. HoscElT 1,313,928

HOPPER CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2, 1930 f 4 Sheets-Sheet. 3

HOPPER CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

Jil/672%.'

Patented July 14, 1931 UNITED STATES vParent oFFl WILLIAM J'. HOSCEIT, `OF CHICAGO, ILLNOIS,

` COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE ASSIGNOR TO RODGER BALLAST CA'R HOPPER CAR CONSTRUCTION Appuation mea August 2, 1930. seriaiNo. 472,650.-

. between and outside of the car rails.

An object of this invention is to provide a construction for hopper cars having transversely disposed hoppers of the type now em- A ployed for hauling coal andthe like, havingthe usual discharge doors for use in discharging the lading longitudinally of the car directly onto the rails and also with discharge means for ballast adapted to discharge ballast in transverseV directions between and Voutside of the car rails. The ballast discharging means of this invention is of a particular construction whereby the proper ballast discharge is effected from hoppers disposed transverselyof the car. It is intended that this invention may be embodied in newly constructed cars whereby the cars possess the joint function of usev als'either coal hauling or ballast hauling cars and also that the ballast discharge features thereof may be installed as an improved attachment on railroad hopper cars of the coal hauling type already in use whereby such cars may. be converted to possess the struc-V tural characteristics permitting use for hauling and' discharging either coal'or ballast.

The characteristic of this invention is that discharge doors, together with ballast deflect-V ing means, are mounted on the outside sloping floor of the transverse hopper whereby the usual coal discharging doors located on the inner sloping walls are also provided of the usual construction, completely intact for normal operation in handling coal or the like,

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel form of discharge mechanism including doors andV control meansI therefor whereby the desired discharge of ballast may be accomplished and a ready and 1'acclurate control over the discharge may be iac.

In connection with the last stated object, it

is a further object to provide a novel form of door control means, providing great flexibility of control by a simple and cheap mechanism, permitting the operation of the various doors independently vor'simultaneously as def sired.

Various additional objects will readily appear to one skilled in the art as the follow{ ing description proceeds; i

The following description is one preferred form of the invention and is given merely by way of example and is not to be construed as limiting the invention in any respect as the scope of the invention should be deter? mined from the appended claims with an understanding of the present disclosure and an appreciation o-f the advantages which the invention produces therein.

The following disclosure vmay be more readily understoody by referring to the ac companying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevational view in cross section. of one-half of a hopper car constructed in accordance with the present invention, and i l Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure l;

Figure v3 is an enlarged elevational view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

`'Figure is a cross sectional view taken on line 444 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and y Figure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view disclosing the hoppers on bothrsides of the car in their proper relationship to the car supporting rails.

By referringto the drawings it will be noted that the present invention is disclosed as embodied ina hopper car comprising the usual underframe 10, adapted to be mounted by bolster l1 on track running wheels 12, supported by the usual truGk-QQHSWQQO-H;

not shown. rllhe car body 13 of hopper construction is mounted and supported in the usual manner upon the underframe which body comprises side walls 14, end walls 15, a sloping iioor 16, terminating at a point below the underframe in the space between the car trucks.

Centrally of the car, the sloping floor or shedding surface 17 is provided having a hinge 1S at the lower edge thereof on which the discharge door 19 is pivotally mounted. The discharge door is of usual arrangement and construction and constitutes the discharge means for the hopper through which coal or similar lading may be discharged in a longitudinal flow on top of the car rails. The means for controlling the movement of door 19 is not disclosed in this specification as it is intended to be of any usual and well known construction.

It is noted that the door 19 is constructed to provide the usual discharge from hoppers disposed transversely of the car and that the lading passing therethrough falling from the sloping floor 16 will be traveling in a direction longitudinally of the car and deposited on top of the track rails.

The above description of the disclosed car covers those characteristics which are common in hopper cars of the coal carrying type and do not, except in combination with the ballast discharge means, constitute any part ofthe present invention.

In combination, however, the present invention permits the maintenance of usual coal type of discharge means of usual form for usual operation, and provides in addition, ballast discharge mea-ns effective to discharge ballast in a transverse direction between and outside of the car rails.

As disclosed in the drawings, it will be noted that the discharge means f-or ballast or the like, which flows from the hopper and is deflected in transverse directions between and on the outside of the car rails, comprises a plurality of openings 20, arranged two on each side of the center of the car in the lower portion of the sloping wall 16. This construction utilizes the opposite sloping surface of the hopper from that constituting the discharge door 19, in the ordinary hopper construction. By locating the ballast difcharge doors in this manner, the usual hopper discharge,y door is not interfered with in any manner.

y As more clearly shown in Figures 3 and`4, on the under side of the openings 20, on the margins'thereof, arel plates 21,V having edge deflections 22 providing cwith the edge Vof the iioor openings grooves or slots 23, for receiving opposite edges Vof the doors 24. `The doors are preferably constructed in the form of rectangular plates adapted yto slide in a path parallel to the sloping floor 116 and in close Contact with the under sidefthereof.

The lower edge of the door is provided with a lip 25, which is formed by deflecting the body portion of the door upwardly and thence in a parallel direction, whereby the lip will overlie the lower portion 26, of the sloping floor 16. This feature is clearly shown in Figure 4.

It will be understood that the lip 25 is of less width than the main portion of the door whereby it will be free of the groove 23, and project through the door opening in a manner to overlap as described.

The underside of each door is preferably Vprovided with two sets of bearing lugs 27,

each set having a bearing pin 28, for pivotal connection with the yoke 29, the opposite ends of which are connected to door control mechanism which will now be described.

As the mechanism is the same for each pair of doors on each side of the center of the car, a description of only one pair will be given. The innermost yoke is connected by means of pin 30, to the crank 31, which is keyed to the shaft 82. Shaft 32 may extend entirely across the car from one side to the other whereby rotation of the shaft will serve to actuate both of the inside doors simultaneously or, if for control purposes, it is desired to operate the inside doorsindependently, two shafts may be employed, disposed end to end to assume the same position as that of the single shaft. In either construction, the inner portion of the shaft is mounted in a bearing 33, whereas the outer end thereof is mounted for pivotal movement within the sleeve 34, which in turn, is mounted for rotation in the bearing 35, carried by the bracket 36, secured to the under side of the hopper.

The sleeve 34 extends .inwardly to lapproximately the mid-point of the outside door and is provided with a crank 37, on the end thereof which is connected to the end of the yoke 29 of the outer door, by means of the bearing pin 38.

It will readily appear that this construction will be effective to control the inside door upon rotation of the shaft and the outside door upon rotation of the sleeve. Obviously, the outside door lon the opposite side of the car is controlled by asleeve on that side, whereas the inside door may be controlled by the rotation of the shaft along with the first inside door or independently thereof by its own shaft if two shafts are provided.

Formed integrally with the sleeve 34, is the cam member 40, and arranged in associated relationship therewith is a second cam member 41, which is fixed to turn with the shaft 32. These members are provided with sockets 42 and 43 respectively, adapted to receive the end of an actuating lever, by which' rotation thereof may be effected. It will readily appear that each may be actuated independently of the other. Y

' and 57 respectively,

However, a third socket 44.is provided, yenupof complementary depressions in the adjacent faces of the two'cams whereby a tool inserted, therein, will be effective tov rotate both cams simultaneously. Bynthe insertion oif'ain 'operating lever in the middle socket del, the shaftand the sleeve are rotated as a unit, y y

Deliecting or shedding surfaces are also provided located beneath the doors forcatchingand deflecting the ballast as it liows from the idoors and to direct the deposit of the ballast between and on the outside of the rails lof the track; This means comprises a brackeft which is attached to the under side of -the car by means of rivets 51 as shown in Figure 3 andserves as a mounting for the deflecting plate 52, attached thereto by mea-ns of rivets 53 at one side and to the under side of the sloping surface by means of rivets 54 and bracket 55 at the'other side.

The deilecting plate is provided with an intermediate horizontal portion and downwardly and oppositely inclined portions 56 each underlying one of the two doors to defiect the ballast. This 'plate is providedfwith side walls 5S, whereby the ballast will not spill over the edges under the influence of thelon'gitudinal flow from the hopper doors. Y l

It will thus appear that by proper manipulation of the doors, the ballast will flow through the openings when the doors are open, fall upon the plates and be directed to the side of and between the rails in the desired manner in discharging ballast.

It will also appear that the type of discharge may be selected according to need in use, that is; by operating only the outside door on one or both sides, ballast may be deposited on the side or sides of the track only, or, by operating the inside doors, the ballast may be deposited between the track rails only,

r whereas, the operation of both doors together '45 will discharge the ballast bot-h between and on the outside of the rails.

Furthermore, the doors on the particular side of the car may be actuated from the control means on the corresponding side, it being understood however, that when the single shaft 32 is employed extending all the way across the car, that the operation from one side of the car only, deposits ballast between the rails from both of the inside doors simultaneously.

By an inspection of Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be noted that the ballast deflecting plates 56, 57 are arranged to deposit the ballast between and on the outside of the car supporting rails. This figure shows the car in its proper relationship to the rails and it is preferable to provide the ends of the dellecting plate 58 so as to lie in an imaginary line which represents the angle of repose of the ballast material when piled to a maximum lextent between and' outsideof therail's 4with- Tliis imaginary line is represented by the dottedline 10l in Figure 5 and it willbe out flooding the wheel engaging portions.

noted thatit represents the material piled to tion which is capable of use for coal or the like, or ballast, in which all of the structural eafturesnecessary and desirable for hopper cars oit the coal hauling type are maintained both in structure ,and function as they now exist in cars solely for this purpose, and in addition, ballast discharge means vis also provided which is operable to discharge ballast between and on the outside of the rails in lateral directions.

It will also appear that the ballast discharge means is capable of being added to ordinary hopper cars of the coal hauling type without material or substantial alteration and without interfering with thecoal discharge mechanism already provided for in their construction.

I claim: y

1. A car of the character described comprising in combination a transverse hopper l.

having downwardly converging floors, a portion of Vone of said floors constituting a hinged door for providing discharge of lading on to the` track rails, the opposite floor, said discharge means havdetlecting ysurfaces for depositing lading dischargedtherethrough on the side of and between the track rails. K

2. A hopper car of the character described comprising in combination a hopper having converging' sloping floor surfaces, one hav- ,ingy a portion constituting aldischarge door for depositingy lading longitudinally of the car on to the track rails andthe other being provided with discharge means for deposity ing lading entirely independently of said discharge door, said discharge means having delecting surfaces for directing the discharge for deposit on the sides of and between the track rails. a l

a 8. A hopper car of the character described comprising in combination ahopper having converging sloping floor surfaces, one having a portionconstituting a discharge door for depositing lading' longitudinally of the car on to thetrack rails and the other being provided with discharge means for depositing lading entirely independently of said discharge door, said discharge means having deleetingrutfaees. fQrdRQS-fna the lading' by lw in lateral directions;

and discharge means in 4. A hopper car of the character described comprising in combination a .hopper having lading' to either or both sides of, or between said track rails or any combination thereof.

5. A hopper car of the character described comprising in combination a hopper having converging floor surfaces and a transverse vortex, discharge openings in one hopper Hoor surface on one side of said Vortex, and doors therefor mounted for sliding opening and closing movement in a path parallel to said hopper floor surface, and means tlierebeneath for deflecting ballast transversely, between and to the sides of the track rails.

6. A hopper car of the character described comprising a sloping floor surface having portions extending below the center sill on opposite sides of said center sill each provided with a pair of discharge openings, and means beneath the inside openings for directing ballast therefrom between the track rails and means beneath the outside openings for directing ballast therefrom outside ofthe track rails.

7. A hopper car of the character described comprising a sloping floor surface having portions extending below the center sill on opposite sides of said center sill each provided with a pair of discharge openings, and means beneath the inside openings for directing ballast therefrom between the track rails and means beneath the outside openings for directing ballast therefrom outside of the track rails, said cont-rol means comprising a single device for operating said inside doors and separate devices for operating said out-side doors.

8. A hopper car of the character described comprising a sloping floor surface having portions extending below the center sill on opposite sides of said center sill each provided with a. pair of discharge openings, and

means beneath the inside openings for direct- Y ing ballast therefrom between the track rails and means beneath the outside openings for directing ballast therefrom outside of the track rails, said control means comprising a single device for operating said inside doors and sepan te devices for operating said outside doors, all constructed for operating said inside doors simultaneously with either outside door by a single operating movement.

9. A construction of the character described comprising in combination a pair of discharge openings and doors for each of said openings, and a shaft connected for operating one of said doors and a sleeve concentric with said a unit.

10. A construction of the character describ-ed comprising in combination a pair of discharge openings and doors for each of said openings, and a shaftconnected for operating one of said doors and a sleeve concentric with said shaft connected for operating the other of said doors, independent means on said shaft and sleeve respectively, each having a tool receiving socket therein, and complementary depressions jointly constituting a tool receiving socket. v

11. A car construction of the character described coinprising a sloping floor having a discharge opening therethrough, a slide track adjacent the edges of said opening and a door slidable to open and shut positions with respect to said opening, mounted in said slide track, and means for operating said door, said door having its lower end extended through said opening and in overlapping relation with the lower edge of said opening when in closed position.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 24th day of July, 1930.

WILLIAM J. HOSCEIT. 

